ABSTRACT
London has a reputation of being one of the most competitive musical environments in the world. As London’s cultural policy is strongly committed to the idea of using culture as a resource in economic and in social terms, programming autonomy, commercial pragmatism and social awareness need to go hand in hand. The specificity of the Anglo-Saxon model raises the question as to whether the immediate and inevitable market test of the model has an impact on programming policies. Moving in this particular environment, London Symphony Orchestra and Aurora Orchestra are familiar with adaptive strategies and illustrate that the pressure to adapt can result in creativity. Programming strategies of both orchestras have not resulted in market conformity, but rather in the development of innovative ways to present various kinds of repertoires to a more diverse audience. As such, pragmatic survival strategies in London’s Darwinist orchestra landscape have exercised the symphony orchestra in finding the sweet spot where commercialism and artistry overlap.
